Along with the change in title comes a change in salary, in addition to a $13,000 bonus deposited into a tax-deferred retirement account.

Sparagana was all set to retire at the end of the year, when, on Sept. 20, Superintendent Reed Lindley abruptly resigned, leaving Pottstown facing a future without its two top administrators.

Sparagana agreed to stay on through the end of the current school year in order to give the district time to conduct a superintendent search.

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As a result, his annual salary will go from $152,870 to $160,624.

With the new salary kicking in Friday, the pro-rated amount of increase he will receive is $8,000, according to information provided by the district.

Additionally, the district has agreed to put an additional $13,000 into a 457 retirement plan for Sparagana, as well as may $76.20 per year for the rest of his life to a life insurance policy.

His current contract includes a clause that has Pottstown taxpayers funding the full cost of medical insurance for himself and his wife until he is 70. The new agreement adds two years to that clause, meaning another $25,550.64 in costs for taxpayers.

It was these extras, said school board member Thomas Hylton, which convinced him to vote against the contract, despite kind words for Sparagana.

“I’m uncomfortable with these...” was all Hylton managed to say before he was cut off by board Vice President Robert Hartman, who said Hylton should not talk about the specifics of the contract until after the board had voted.

Hartman, board President Judyth Zahora and board member Polly Weand were among those who insisted that despite the increase in cost, the changes to Sparagana’s contract will actually save the district money.

The alternative, they argued, is to hire a interim superintendent from outside the district, the average price for which, Hartman said, is $200 per hour.

“At 7˝ hours, that’s $1,500 a day or $286,500” to finish the school year, he said.

By contrast, the $42,626.84 more Sparagana will get is a bargain, particularly when you consider that the district will not have to pay all of Lindley’s $160,624 annual salary, they said.

“I want the public to know the intelligent decision that was made here,” said Weand before making an unnecessary motion to release the information to the media. (Once the board approved the contract, it became a public document.)

“I want to thank him again,” Hartman said of Sparagana, who was not at Thursday night’s meeting. “This nine months out of his life when he was ready to retire, but he realized the predicament we were in.”

“When you look at all the things we have going on; school construction, redistricting, closing a school and a new standardized test coming, we’ve got a lot going on,” said Zahora.

“It could have gotten pretty dicey,” agreed Robert Decker, a high school math teacher and Thursday night’s representative of Pottstown’s teacher’s union. “We want to thank Dr. Sparagana for staying so we can maintain some sort of consistency in the district.”

Hylton too said “I appreciate Dr. sparagana staying on and I think paying him what Dr. Lindley was paid is very reasonable,” he said before trying to express reservations about the additional payments and being cut-off by Hartman.

Zahora told the board she is also cognizant of the need to begin a search for a permanent replacement for Lindley quickly, but needs to understand the process better.

She said she has already been contacted by several search firms and even a superintendent from a nearby district expressing interest, but she is keeping them all at arm’s length for now.

“I can’t find a firm that will explain the process that won’t pitch us at the same time,” Zahora said. “I don’t want to be sold, I want to understand.”

To do that, she has contacted the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and asked them to send someone to give a presentation to the board.

“Unfortunately, they could not make it tonight,” she told the board.

“After we get educated about what’s involved, I think we’ll have to hold a special meeting to get thins started, but I wanted the public and the rest of the board to know this question is not dormant,” Zahora said.

Among the things the board will have to grapple with is the rising cost of superintendency in Montgomery County.

The district provided information that indicates the highest paid superintendent in Montgomery County makes $263,058 while the lowest paid makes $160,000, just under Lindley’s salary. The average salary in the county is $184,342.

The most recent superintendent hired in the greater Pottstown area is Michael Christian at Owen J. Roberts, whose four-year contract began in July and is being paid $200,000 per year.

Pottstown’s four previous superintendents have all bee promoted from within the district, and so extensive searches have not been undertaken.

When Lindley was selected to replace David Krem, Sparagana and former Edgewood Principal Angela Tuck had also applied.

And, after the Rev. Vernon Ross of Bethel AME Church complained about the lack of community involvement in the process, a community forum was set at up at which each of the three finalists made presentations to the public.

Zahora’s comments made it clear that it is too soon to say what procedure the board will follow this time.

About the Author

Evan Brandt has worked for The Mercury since November 1997. His beat includes Pottstown, the surrounding townships and the Pottstown and Pottsgrove school districts, as well as other varied general topics like politics, the environment and education. Reach the author at ebrandt@pottsmerc.com
or follow Evan on Twitter: @PottstownNews.